Albanian Airlines MAK Sh.p.k (trading as Albanian Airlines) was an

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...

based in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. It operated scheduled international services. Its main hub was Tirana International Airport Nënë Tereza. On 11 November 2011 Albania's Civil Aviation Authority revoked the license of Albanian Airlines.

History

The airline was initially established in May 1991 using Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft and operated under the name of Arberia Airlines. This was the private airline of politicians for communist Albania. The airline was later renamed to Albanian Airlines in May 1992 and started open operations to the public on 20 June 1992. The renamed airline was formed as a joint venture between the Albanian state-owned Albtransport and

Tyrolean Airways Tyrolean Airways, officially ''Tyrolean Airways Tiroler Luftfahrt GmbH'', was an Austrian regional airline based in Innsbruck with its hub at Vienna International Airport and its homebase at Innsbruck Airport. It was owned by the Lufthansa Grou ...

of Austria. Albanian Airlines operated a single Austrian registered, De Havilland Canada Dash 8-102 (MSN 242, OE-LLI), flown by Canadian pilots and maintained by Canadian Engineers. Tyrolean opted out of the relationship in 1997, taking back the single Dash 8.

Privatisation

Albanian Airlines was privatised in the same year and sold to

Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

-based M.A. Kharafi & Sons Group. As a result, it was restructured in 1997 when its operations were based on a single

Airbus A320 The Airbus A320 family is a series of Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliners developed and produced by Airbus. The A320 was launched in March 1984, Maiden flight, first flew on 22 February 1987, and was introduced in April 1988 by Air F ...

aircraft leased from Shorouk Air of Egypt. By 2001 it operated a fleet of four Tupolev Tu-134 aircraft on scheduled services from Tirana to

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Zürich Zürich () is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zürich. It is located in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zürich. As of January 2020, the municipality has 43 ...

. In July 2001, Albanian Airlines started upgrading its fleet by gradually removing its Tupolev aircraft and acquired its first

BAe 146 The British Aerospace 146 (also BAe 146) is a short-haul and regional airliner that was manufactured in the United Kingdom by British Aerospace, later part of BAE Systems. Production ran from 1983 until 2001. Manufacture by Avro International ...

. Two more BAe 146 were added in 2003 and 2004. This upgrading process allowed the company to expand to new strategic markets such as

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Advanced Construction Group (ACG) Sh.p.k.

In August 2008, Albanian Airlines was purchased by the Advanced Construction Group (ACG) Sh.p.k. in Tirana, Albania, by the President Yahia Farwati, who purchased 100% of capital from the Kuwaiti-based M.A. Kharafi & Sons Group. On 14 August 2009, it was announced that Albanian Airlines had been sold to Turkish Even Group, which was purchased by Evsen Group 93% and 7% retained by the Advanced Construction Group. In March 2012, the 93% of Albanian Airlines shares was returned with a court decision to Advanced Construction Group (ACG) with owner Yahia Farwati. Now, Advanced Construction Group (ACG) owns 100% of its shares. With this investment came a new logo, addition of destinations, and an addition of aircraft to the existing fleet. In 2009, the carrier saw the addition of aircraft, two

Boeing 737 The Boeing 737 is a narrow-body aircraft produced by Boeing at its Renton Factory in Washington. Developed to supplement the Boeing 727 on short and thin routes, the twinjet retains the 707 fuselage width and six abreast seating with two un ...

as well as one

Boeing 757 The Boeing 757 is an American narrow-body airliner designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The then-named 7N7, a twinjet successor for the 727 (a trijet), received its first orders in August 1978. The prototype completed its mai ...

, all of which were leased from

Air Slovakia Air Slovakia was an airline based in Bratislava, Slovakia, operating out of M. R. Štefánik Airport. The airline offered scheduled and chartered passenger flights, as well as aircraft lease (ACMI). History The airline was established on 2 Ju ...

. On 9 October 2009, it was announced that Albanian Airlines would soon open new destinations to Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Rome, Athens, Jeddah, Beijing and later the United States of America. Along with lower rates of travel, the addition of more Fokker 100, and scheduled use of the

Boeing 747 The Boeing 747 is a large, long-range wide-body airliner designed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes in the United States between 1968 and 2022. After introducing the 707 in October 1958, Pan Am wanted a jet times its size, t ...

, such claims fell through due to financial problems, including the repossession of all leased aircraft from Air Slovakia.

Destinations

Fleet

Albanian Airlines British Aerospace BAe 146-200 in FRA

In October 2011, the Albanian Airlines fleet consisted of the following aircraft with an average age of 22.5 years:

References

External links

Official website
website defunct) {{Airlines of Albania Defunct airlines of Albania Airlines established in 1991 Airlines disestablished in 2011 1991 establishments in Albania 2011 disestablishments in Albania